The Fix Up
by April Roses
Summary: AU to how the Luke/Lorelai relationship began.
1. Chapter 1

Lorelai waltzed into the Independence Inn's kitchen with a smile on her face and a spring in her step.

"Good Morning, Sookie!" she happily sang.

Sookie turned around and gave her best friend a puzzling smile before asking, "Hey, what's got you in such a great mood this morning?"

Lorelai sighed and then reflectively began, "It's just that everything is FINALLY falling into place. Mia gave me the new job...which means more money. I was finally able to save up the down payment for the Crap Shack...which means no more potter's shed. And...well...even though I don't have a dime to my name...things are just REALLY good at the moment."

Sookie smiled and replied sincerely, "I'm really happy for you."

Laughing, Lorelai added, "Oh...and I ran into the most gorgeous guy last night - so that gave me something nice to dream about."

Sookie smiled and asked enthusiastically, "So, are you saying that you're finally ready to start dating again?"

She had been trying SO hard, for the past two years, to get Lorelai to agree to let her fix her up on one measly blind date. But she had been refused and blocked at every attempt.

"No, Sookie!" she said adamantly with a chuckle. "I have way too much baggage to start dating again. This just means that for the first time, in a long time, I felt something spark inside of me when I met this guy."

"Well, who is HE?" Sookie asked curiously.

Lorelai scrunched up her nose and said "I have no idea. Like I told you, I literally ran into him. We didn't even talk."

Sookie wondered, "Well, where were you when you ran into Mr. Wonderful?"

Lorelai questioned, "Remember, last night, I told you that I had to stop at Doose's for whipped cream because Rory and I were watching Willy Wonka and we needed it to top off our Hershey bars because we were going to pretend that they were really Wonka Bars and we were looking for the golden tickets?"

Sookie nodded knowingly and replied, "Yeah."

"Well it was in Doose's." she continued. "While I was pulling my whipped cream out of the cooler, HE was pulling out his skim milk and our dairy products did the nasty with each other - which of course made his skim milk fall to the floor - and then the milk splattered everywhere - and then Taylor came over and started screaming. But before Taylor got there, there was this moment, when we...we just locked eyes - and even though I think his eyes were both angry and incredibly annoyed with me - they were some of the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. This guy had steel blue eyes with the longest eyelashes I've ever seen on a man - simply breath taking...and completely wasted on a guy. I'd kill for lashes like those!"

Sookie laughed. The eyelash description peaked her curiosity though.

She asked, "Huh. Anything else you remember about him?"

Lorelai reflected and then gleefully answered, "Yeah, he was scruffy...but not in a homeless way...it was more like in a really sexy way. Kinda like a lumber jack. Oh, and he was wearing flannel so REALLY like a lumber jack!"

A knowing look came over Sookie's face that Lorelai completely missed.

Sookie summarized, "So...gorgeous, steel blue eyes, long eyelashes, scruffy, flannel...and skim milk, huh?"

Sookie knew there was just one key feature being left out.

As if on cue, Lorelai added, "Oh yeah, and he was wearing a backwards baseball cap. Strange outfit, I know...but it really worked for him. Well...at least it was working for me."

She punctuated the end of her sentence with a quick giggle.

Sookie just smiled at her. Thinking quickly, she asked, "Hey, what are you doing tonight?"

Lorelai answered, "I just told you that I'm flat broke. So, my Friday night is going to consist of me sitting on my couch, watching Olympic gymnastics and trying to guess how many of the girls ate over 100 calories today despite their Russian coaches' objections."

Sookie ignored her friend's plan and asked, "What about Rory?"

Lorelai answered, "Oh, she's spending the night at Lane's. I know Mrs. Kim hates me but she tolerates the girls' friendship pretty well."

Enthusiastically, Sookie asked "Hey, why don't you come out for a drink with me? We'll go to KC's."

Lorelai shook her head and said "Sookie, I just told you I'm flat broke. I can't afford to go out drinking."

Sookie wasn't taking no for an answer. "Look it's my treat. I could really use a night out and I need my best friend with me. We'll just have one drink. Come on. What do you say?"

Truth be told, Lorelai was dying for a fun adult night out.

"Yeah, I guess you don't have to twist my arm too hard." Lorelai joked. She added, "And, if I scrounge all the loose change out of my couch, I might even be able to buy us a second round of drinks."

"Sounds good!" Sookie replied happily.

Lorelai poured herself a large cup of coffee and then stated, "Well, I guess I better start my day. I'm really looking forward to tonight. Thanks for asking me, Sookie."

Sookie just replied "Yeah, sure" and waited anxiously for Lorelai to vacate the kitchen.

It took her just a minute to look up and dial the number.

"Hey, Ed. It's Sookie" she said quietly into the receiver.

With surprise, Ed answered, "Hey Sookie. What's up?"

Sookie was never one to beat around the bush.

She questioned directly, "Hey, do you know if Luke is seeing anyone right now?"

Ed thought it was a strange question coming from Sookie - but also knew that most of the single women in town had a thing for the ex track star of Stars Hollow High.

Hesitantly he replied, "Well, I'm not sure he's your type but.."

Sookie immediately cut him off.

She insisted, "I'm not asking for ME, Ed. I'm asking for a friend."

Ed thought that made more sense. He had never seen anything before between Luke and Sookie.

"Well, you know Rachel just left for the millionth time, so I don't think he's seeing anyone - or even contemplating seeing anyone for a long time." he said truthfully.

Sookie said schemingly, "Well, that's okay. I really don't want him to know that I'm trying to fix him up. I was just thinking that maybe you guys could just meet me and my friend at KC's tonight for a drink. You know...like just a spontaneous run in kind of thing."

"Yeah, Luke would never go for a fix up." Ed agreed. "I'll ask him but you know Luke, he's pretty unpredictable."

Sookie encouraged, "Well, just try and get him to come out tonight. I think it'll be fun. Maybe around 8 pm?"

"Maybe we'll see you there." Ed concluded.

Ed walked into the diner and took a seat at the old formica counter.

Luke noticed him right away.

"Hey, what can I get you?" Luke asked.

"Ah, coffee and I have a question for you." Ed replied.

"Shoot." Luke said as he poured a generous cup of java for his friend.

Directly, Ed asked, "What are you doing tonight?"

Luke grumbled "Working, cleaning up, sleeping - the usual."

"Let's grab a drink." his friend casually offered.

Luke immediately dismissed the idea. Bar hopping was the last thing he felt like doing now that Rachel was gone.

He shook his head and replied "Naw. Not tonight, Man."

Ed knew this meant something to Sookie so he gave it one more try.

"Hey, I really need to talk to you. Just one drink at KC's. I promise it won't take up your whole night." Ed rambled.

"Is everything OK?" Luke asked with concern.

Ed decided to play up that angle. He knew Luke wasn't one to turn away someone in need.

With evasiveness, Ed answered, "Yeah, I just want to run something by you...you know...get your opinion. How 'bout I come by around 8 pm and we'll go over to KC's?"

Luke didn't want to blow off his good friend so he hesitantly agreed. After all, it was just one quick drink, what's the harm?


	2. Chapter 2

Sookie waited in the warm car while Lorelai took an overly excited Rory into the Kim's house. With her friend gone, she quickly ran over the spontaneous scheme in her head. She convinced herself, "This could be good. He's sad and she's kind of lonely. They're both really grounded in Stars Hollow so that takes care of his problem with the girl who never stays. And, I don't think Luke would be freaked out by Rory - so that takes care of her problem with the guys who never stay. So...yeah...this could work!" She exhaled and smiled.

90 seconds later, Lorelai reemerged from the antiques store.

"She says I look like a prostitute." Lorelai quipped as she got into the passenger seat.

"What?" Sookie replied with shock.

Lorelai laughed, "Mrs. Kim said that only a "lady of the evening" would be wearing such a low cut shirt."

Sookie didn't see anything wrong with Lorelai's plunging neckline. And she was pretty sure her intended target for the night would definitely see it as an asset.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As they entered KC's, Sookie scoped out the vast crowd. There was no sign of Ed and Luke.

"Hey, let's sit in this booth." Sookie suggested.

Sookie made sure that she faced the door and Lorelai didn't, when they sat down.

They ordered two strong mixed drinks and then began sipping, chatting and laughing. Although, it was sometimes hard to hear over the blaring juke box music, Lorelai didn't care. She was just SO happy to be out of the house and in a room full of grown ups. She could count on one hand the number of times she'd allowed herself to do this since she turned 21.

The first drink went down quickly and Sookie happily ordered another round with an extra shot on the side.

"Hey, I told you that I was going to get the second round." Lorelai protested.

Sookie reassured, "Oh please. Save your money. You've got Rory and that new house to support. I've just got me. Just relax for tonight and let me buy."

Lorelai conceded as she downed the shot and began sipping on mixed drink number two. She could sense the peer of male eyes on her and her friend. Truth be told, she liked the feeling. She liked knowing that men found her attractive. From her limited dating history, though, she knew most men didn't want to be bogged down with a single mom and her daughter - but it didn't hurt to be admired from afar without everyone knowing about her "colorful" past...and present.

As her buzz began to take hold, Lorelai adamantly and suddenly declared to Sookie, "Hey, tonight I'm not Lorelai Gilmore."

"What?" Sookie asked, only half listening, because she was distracted in her search for the guys.

Lorelai explained, "Tonight, I don't wanna be the knocked up 16 year old girl who ran to Stars Hollow and lived in a shed with her baby daughter for ten years. Okay?"

Again half listening, Sookie responded, "Well...ah...who are you then?"

Lorelai thought for a moment and then simply decided, "I'm just a normal, single, 26 year old woman."

After making the statement, she began to feel a little guilty and explained. "Look Sookie, you know I love my life. You know Rory IS my life. But, just for tonight, I want to pretend that things are different...that I don't have all that responsibility...just for a few hours."

Sookie was starting to get her point - but knew she picked the wrong night to play that game. Luke had just gone through a bad break up and he didn't need someone toying with him. She wanted Luke to meet the real Lorelai - baggage and all. She had a feeling he'd accept her just as she is.

She nervously tried, "How 'bout you do that the next time we go out?"

"What?" Lorelai asked with confusion.

Sookie said a bit louder, "Pretend you're someone else NEXT time. Tonight just be Lorelai Gilmore who manages the Independence Inn and has a 10 year old daughter named, Rory and..."

"No!" Lorelai stubbornly insisted. "I'm taking four hours to be someone else."

"Oh crap!" Sookie thought to herself. This is NOT how this was supposed to go.


	3. Chapter 3

It took until precisely 9:27 pm for the guys to walk through the door. Lorelai had managed to down another cocktail in the interim.

Now that she knew her friend's plan, Sookie's excitement was fading and tinged with a bit of regret. She hoped, maybe, Lorelai would change her mind once she actually met Luke.

It didn't take Ed long to spot Sookie in the booth.

Ed said casually to Luke "Hey, let's grab a couple of beers and look for a place to sit."

Luke looked around, shook his head and replied, "This place is packed, Buddy. I don't think we're going to be sitting tonight."

Ed felt a little bad deceiving Luke.

They grabbed their beers and then Ed feigned surprise, "Oh look there's Sookie, let's go say hi."

Luke quickly replied with annoyance, "I thought we came out because you needed to talk to ME." He wasn't in the mood to socialize with anyone.

Ed ignored him and kept walking towards Sookie and her friend.

Sookie's nerves were getting the best of her - afraid of what Lorelai was going to say. She told herself it was too late to stop the potential train wreck she had created and began calming her inner panic.

"Hey" she said kind of reluctantly to the guys.

Ed expected a bit more of an enthusiastic greeting after all the effort it took him to get Luke there.

Lorelai, of course, turned around to see who her friend was talking to. She immediately, and without hesitation, recognized HIM - tall, dark and extremely handsome. Normally, there would have been a swarm of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. However, the alcohol calmed them. She immediately wondered if this was a purely coincidental meeting or something Sookie had masterminded.

Sookie smiled and said calmly, "Hey, Ed. Hey, Luke. This is my friend, Lorelai."

Luke immediately found himself doing a double take. He knew instantly who she was. She was the annoying woman who ran into him last night at Doose's. There was no forgetting those piercing blue eyes. He also recognized her unique name but couldn't place why it seemed so familiar.

No one could miss Luke's intense gaze on Lorelai and the blush that spread across her cheeks.

Sookie decided to continue her introduction, in the hopes that Lorelai wouldn't contradict what she was about to say.

"Um, Lorelai, this is Ed" - pointing to the gangly man - "and this is Luke" - pointing to the flannel God that was before her again. Sookie then gestured at her friend and said, "And guys, Lorelai works at the..."

Lorelai cut her off.

She said "Hi." as a gorgeous smile spread across her face. "Sookie was about to say that I work in hospitality."

Sookie thought to herself "Hospitality? I guess that's not really a lie."

"Oh yeah," Ed replied with interest, "what exactly do you do? Are you a chef like Sookie?"

Lorelai's thoughts were beginning to get a wee bit jumbled from the alcohol and she hadn't really thought through the details of her make believe persona ahead of time.

Luke waited for her reply with curiosity.

Finally, with what she thought was a coherent answer, Lorelai blurted out "No! I don't cook!" - with a little too much insistence and bravado.

Sookie would have been offended if Lorelai wasn't her best friend and she didn't know her better. Luke easily took offense.

Lorelai stumbled through, "Travel. I, uh.. I travel a lot. You know, I go from place to place. I mean, hotel to hotel, checking them out...I mean evaluating them and uh...I write about them."

She thought Rory might be proud of her for throwing in that writer part.

Sookie's eyes began bugging out. She was hoping Lorelai would take a second to shoot her a glance and understand her pleading "PLEASE STOP!" look. But Lorelai was in her own imaginary world.

All Luke needed to hear was the word "travel" - after the disparaging remark about cooking - and he immediately dismissed the beautiful woman.

Sookie half heartedly asked, "You guys want to sit down?"

Ed, who was completely clueless to what was happening, readily accepted the invitation - thinking he was keeping with Sookie's plan. Sookie moved quickly to Lorelai's side of the table and sat next to her. Luke just remained standing - ready to be anywhere but here.

Lorelai noticed and asked a bit more snarky than she probably meant, "Aren't you going to sit down, too?"

Luke's scowl said it all but he proceeded to take the seat next to Ed.

The waitress soon approached and asked if they wanted another round of drinks. Lorelai answered an instantaneous "yes" for all of them. Sookie cringed just a little bit more in her seat.

Lorelai continued to dominate the conversation for the next hour. It was a mixture of tiny bits of truth with large heaps of lies. At one point one of the guys asked her if she lived in Stars Hollow and she answered that she had just bought property here "strictly as an investment." Sookie and Ed both noticed Luke's eye roll to that conceited remark.

After being silent for so long, Luke decided he'd at least try and engage in some small talk with Lorelai - maybe it would make the paralyzed hands on his watch begin to move and possibly shut her up for a minute.

"So, you and your whipped cream sure high tailed it out of Dosse's last night." he half gruffly remarked.

She gave him a slightly embarrassed look.

Luke thought she SHOULD be embarrassed with how high brow she was acting.

Again, not thinking all that clearly, she replied sarcastically, "Well, if you had been a little more careful, there wouldn't have been a problem.

That got Luke's blood boiling.

Raising his voice more than he should have, he yelled, "Are you kidding me? You came barreling in there, knocked the milk out of my hand and then ran away without even an apology!"

"NO WAY!" Lorelai yelled back. "You got in MY way and..."

Sookie knew she needed to try and get Lorelai alone to try and diffuse the situation.

"Hey, Lorelai?" she interjected hopefully.

"Yeah?" Lorelai replied with a bit louder than necessary.

"Could you go to the ladies room with me?", Sookie asked pleadingly.

Lorelai rose from the booth and stumbled through her first step but caught herself quickly. It was the first time Luke really got a good look at her. He couldn't deny that she was absolutely stunning - but he also couldn't help thinking she'd probably be alone the rest of her life unless she could find someone as obnoxious as herself to be with. And he also wondered if ANYTHING would make her stop talking.

Sookie took hold of her arm and led her away. She hurried them both into the bathroom and abruptly shut the door.

"What are you DOING?" Sookie tensely asked.

Confused, Lorelai responded foggily, "What do you mean? I'm just having fun. I told you I was taking the four hours off. No harm in that. Rory's not here. You seem mad."

Sookie scratched her head and quietly confessed, "I thought you'd like meeting Luke."

Lorelai smiled and replied with a slur, "Ah Ha! So, this was a set up! I couldn't figure out if this was all just coincidence. I KNEW it wasn't! But how did you know who I was talking about?"

"That was easy." her friend replied knowingly. "Good looking, blue eyes, LONG eyelashes, flannel, baseball cap and more importantly...skim milk...it could only be Luke. This is Stars Hollow, Lorelai - everyone could be reduced to three adjectives. I knew it at eyelashes and skim milk, to be honest."

Lorelai just smiled and shook her head.

"Do you think you could lay off the lies?", Sookie asked nicely.

Lorelai replied dismissively, "Oh Sookie, I'll probably never see them again. I'm not hurting anyone. I'm just having fun."

Sookie pointed out the obvious, "But, we all live in the same town, Lorelai. You definitely WILL see them again and..."

Lorelai's free flowing mouth interrupted with, "Luke is SO hot! What kind of work did you say he did? Do you think he's into me?"

Sookie didn't have the heart to tell her. She softened her reply with, "Yeah, um, he just got out of a relationship. And, uh...I think he's taking a break from women."

"Even me?" she innocently whined.

Sookie thought to herself "especially you" but just sadly nodded back to her friend.

Lorelai didn't seem all that crushed. "Wanna get another drink?" she asked giddily.

Sookie replied with concern, "Don't you think you've had enough?"

With annoyance Lorelai slurred, "Why are you trying to wreck my night out? I thought you wanted ME to have fun? Come on Sookie...let's go DANCE!"

Sookie couldn't get into anything about Luke's dating history with Lorelai in her inebriated state. Her new plan of attack was to either get Lorelai and herself out of KC's or Luke and Ed out of KC's. She knew when defeat was staring her in the face.

Placating Lorelai, Sookie responded, "Dancing...yeah, that sounds good, Hon. Let's just go say good-bye to the guys are then we'll get the heck out of here!"

Lorelai still had some sense about her and insisted, "No, we can just dance here, Sook."

Lorelai scooted out the bathroom door and tripped onto the dance floor, leaving Sookie in the dust.

"New plan." Sookie said to herself. "I'll say good-bye for us and then grab her off the dance floor and leave."

Trying to keep one eye on her friend doing a mean Macarena, Sookie weaved through the crowd to make her way back to the guys at the table.

Wanting to make a quick getaway, she directly addressed them, "So hey, we're going to get going. It was great to see you guys."

Ed looked perplexed. Luke looked relieved. Both might have muttered "You too" but it was so loud and she was so anxious to get away from them, that Sookie heard nothing.

Sookie approached Lorelai on the dance floor. She tapped her on the shoulder and shouted, "All set. Let's get out of here now."

"No!" Lorelai loudly insisted. "We came to dance, Sookie. Let's dance! I was just dancing with..."

Lorelai's sentence ended abruptly since she had no idea who she had been dancing with and whoever it was was now gone.

"Oh, see. You scared him away." she whined.

Sookie took note of the red jello shot in Lorelai's hand. Shaking her head she asked,"Did Mr. Wonderful buy you a present?"

"No!" Lorelai sloppily insisted. "The couch bought it for me."

Sookie needed no further explanation. She understood that Lorelai had used the change from under her couch cushions to buy the drink.

Persuasively, Sookie tried, "Okay, well...that's very frugal of you. How about if you finish that one and then we get going?"

"I think I wanna have another." Lorelai chirped. She reasoned, "I don't get out that much, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Sookie answered empathetically.

Lorelai started heading towards the bar. Sookie shook her head and followed behind. It was clear she was becoming more unsteady on her feet as she bumped into more than one patron as she passed. She was completely oblivious to the "Heys!", "Watch it! and "Stupid Bitch" comments that were being yelled at her as people's drinks began to spill.

Sookie reached out and took a firm hold of Lorelai's arm. She started to pointedly lead her towards the exit. Lorelai yanked her hand back saying, "Not YET, Sookie!" Sookie spotted Bill, the bouncer, heading straight for them. She knew what would come next.

Bill discreetly signaled the bartender to stop serving Lorelai. He then calmly approached her and stated firmly, "I think you've had enough fun for tonight. I'm going to have to ask you to head home now."

Drunken ire filled Lorelai as she quipped, "You can't tell me what to do!"

Sookie responded with embarrassment to Bill, "Yeah, I swear we're on our way out. We just seem to be taking the LONG way out. I'm SO sorry."

Just as Bill was about to lend a helping hand, Sookie heard a deep voice behind her ask "Need some help?"

She was SO thankful to see Luke and Ed standing behind her. She responded with a helpless but grateful nod.

Bill retreated once he saw the guys taking over. Luke moved in front of Lorelai. Ed and Sookie stayed behind her.

Lorelai's glassy eyes sparkled a little when she noticed Luke.

"Heyyyyyy" she slurred as she fell into him. She stopped herself by bracing her hand against his muscular chest. Wordlessly, he immediately wrapped one hand around her tiny waist, pulled her tightly into his side and started walking her slowly out of the bar.

"We're taking your car, Sookie." Luke loudly insisted with annoyance. "No puke in my truck."

Sookie and Ed jumped ahead of Luke and Lorelai and quickly unlocked all the doors.

In a hushed tone, Ed said to Sookie, "Don't think this is gonna work out."

Sookie rolled her eyes and snapped, "Ya think?"

As Sookie headed to the driver's seat, Luke boldly asserted, "Nope. I'm driving. You've been drinking. Sit in the back with her. She might need you."

Luke mistakenly let go of Lorelai thinking she could maneuver herself into the back seat. Instead, she hit her head on the car roof and began stumbling backwards. He caught her quickly and impulsively brushed back her dark curls to survey the damage to her temple. A large red welt was already forming. He tried to block any sympathy that was stirring inside him.

Not taking any chances, he scooped her up and gently placed her into the back seat.

He barked, "Sookie, do her seatbelt." Then added, "Your friend is gonna need a lot of ice for that thick head of hers!"

Lorelai was oblivious to everything - the bump, the man, the car, the conversation - her drunken stupor was quickly transforming to drunken pass out.

Luke questioned Sookie, "We going to your house?"

Sookie knew that Rory was due home early from Lane's. She also knew Lorelai would want to be there when she got back.

"No." Sookie dejectedly replied. "Could you drop us at Lorelai's, please?"

"Whatever." Luke snapped. Sookie heard him add, under his breath to Ed, "Can't wait to see the investment property."

Ed couldn't help but laugh.

Gruffly, Luke asked, "Address?"

"37 Maple" Sookie sighed.

"37 Maple?" Luke questioned. He must have heard her wrong.

"Yeah." Sookie softly replied as she gently propped her friend's head with her sweater against the car window.

Ed recalled, "Hey, isn't that right next door to Babette and Morey?"

"Uh huh." Sookie exhaustedly acknowledged again.

And that's when it hit Luke and began making sense. A sampling of the endless quotes from the past years filled his head.

"There's someone I want you to meet, Lucas. Her name is Lorelai. I think you two could be good friends. Come by the inn soon." Mia had told him.

"Single mom. All alone. Could you imagine?" Miss Patty gossiped.

"My new neighbor, Luke. Her eyes, Doll. You should SEE them!" Babette rasped.

He didn't let on to Sookie that he knew the whole night had been a lie. They drove in silence to the aging yellow house on Maple.

Sookie gave up pretending for Lorelai. It didn't matter any more. All she cared about now was getting Lorelai to bed and taking some aspirin for her splitting headache.

Bluntly, Sookie said "I think I'm going to need help getting her inside. She's passed out cold and as light as she is, I can't lift her."

She noticed Luke's tone had softened when he responded, "Yeah, it's ok, Sookie. We'll get her inside for you."

Ed grabbed the keys from Sookie, opened the front door and turned on the lights. Sookie released Lorelai's seatbelt and gathered up her purse. Luke reached in and gently scooted her limp body towards him. She reactively burrowed her head into his warm chest giving him a fresh view of the large welt that grazed her head. The sympathy he had pushed away before began to ooze. Gingerly, he walked the short distance through the yard, unable to clearly see his way, - as the main porch light was burnt out.

Ed stated the obvious, "Geez, it's really cold in here."

Autumn nights in Connecticut could be like that.

As Luke gently placed Lorelai on the couch, he softly suggested to Sookie, "Turn the heat up a little."

Sookie knew Lorelai's budget was tight. Oil was expensive. Usually the girls slept with triple blankets and kept things cold. They referred to it as "indoor camping." She didn't want to embarrass her friend so she acquiesced and kicked the thermostat up a few notches.

"Wow, this place needs a LOT of work." Ed boldly remarked.

Sookie got defensive. "Hey, she just bought it. That's what you do when you buy a house. You fix it up."

Luke was silent as he took it all in. He couldn't help but take inventory, "Porch lights, door locks, plaster, paint, window sealant..."

His mind quickly wandered back to the woman on the couch. He couldn't help but notice how gorgeous she was when she was silent.

Knowingly, he said, "I think you should put some ice on her head. And, I don't think you should let her sleep too much. You've got to wake her up every few hours, Sookie. She could have a concussion."

Sookie nodded and went into the kitchen. She found an old "Boo Boo Bunny" in the freezer and brought it back to the living room. Luke and Ed were still standing there because there no place else for them to sit.

"What the Hell is that?" Ed questioned.

"Boo Boo Bunny." Sookie answered matter of factly. Placing it gently on her friend's head, she quietly revealed "She has a kid. That's why she has this."

Ed looked surprised. Luke didn't seem phased.

Sookie stared at Lorelai and felt really bad about how awful she knew her friend was going to feel in the morning.

Gratefully, she addressed Ed and Luke, "Hey, thanks so much for getting us home. I don't know what I would have done if you guys weren't there. I'll set an alarm and wake her up every hour or so. Take my car and I'll just get it at the diner tomorrow."

She put the keys in Luke's hand. He didn't know why he was so hesitant to leave. Protectively, he said "Sookie, if you think she needs to go to the hospital, call me. I'll drive you."

No one noticed Ed's raised eyebrow.

Sookie dismissed him with "It's okay. Lorelai's Jeep is here."

Luke stated the obvious and insisted, "I don't think you'll be able to move her by yourself. Call me if you need me. Really." Feeling self conscious over his insistence, he added "Or call an ambulance."

Sookie just nodded and led the men to the door. She waited until she saw the headlights of her car moving away. She then set an alarm and allowed herself a few minutes to down some aspirin and wash up. Making her way back to the living room, she lifted Lorelai's long legs and plopped down on the couch. Her friend barely stirred. She knew this was going to be one long night.


End file.
